Every time you sign up for another store's shopping program, where you are enticed by the discounts and special offers, you are actually giving away your information. I don't consider it as much of a problem at a clothing store or the grocery, but when its the pharmacy, that becomes another story.
CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid offer their rewards programs and they entice you to use the card because you get special prices on products and other financial gains. When you pay for your prescriptions along with shampoo and bandaids or provide personal data points such as body weight, blood sugar, etc, it becomes another story.
"Walgreens this month launched a new smartphone app that customers can sync up wirelessly with their blood glucose and blood pressure monitors so they can feed their personal health information directly into the chain’s data system in exchange for discounts.
At CVS, you can get $5 back for every 10 prescription refills — if you waive your right to health care privacy protected under the federal health law known as HIPAA. And Rite Aid is experimenting with a service that other retailers are using to collect tons of data: special lockers that you can use to charge your cell phone for free, if you’ll give up your phone number, insurance costs, and shopping preferences."
The key words in there are "if you waive your right to health care privacy protected under the federal health law known as HIPAA". I bet you didn't even realize that you waived your HIPAA protection.
Seriously? I had no idea I was waiving my HIPAA right to privacy. Until I read this article I did not know that was going on.
"When asked how Walgreens was using all that health data, company spokeswoman Mailee Garcia said the company “does not sell personally identifiable information to third parties,” but may sell de-identified information."
Garcia said Walgreens is not currently using health data to market to the customers who provide it. But the app’s privacy policy explicitly states that Walgreens may use customer data to personalize advertising. The store can also combine data entered into the health app with personal information collected by other companies to create a more robust profile of individual customers.
The policy also gives Walgreens the right to change its privacy terms at any time and says customer data will be sold as an asset if Walgreens is acquired by another company."
So now that I know all this, I will not be swiping my card when I pay for prescriptions. I will pay for prescriptions at the pharmacy without my card and then pay for other items to get the discounts with my card. Seriously its not worth my privacy about prescriptions. If it wasn't the way to get the sale prices (and I am secretly very cheap and never pay retail unless I absolutely have to), I would ditch my card all together.
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Friday, April 18, 2014
Marketing to the patients
I know pharmaceutical companies are trying to market direct to companies through their ads on TV which include the low voiced list of possible side effects and the single page ads in magazines followed by two pages of fine print. We have all see them. Now I am seeing something different.
Yesterday I received an email inviting me to a webinar fun by Pfizer on one of their new medications for RA:
You will of course learn more about XELJANZ, first in a new class of oral treatment for RA.
Xeljanz is a prescription medicine called a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor. XELJANZ is used to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in whom methotrexate did not work well. It is not known if XELJANZ is safe and effective in people with hepatitis B or C. XELJANZ is not for people with severe liver problems. It is not known if XELJANZ is safe and effective in children.
We’ll also listen to personal RA stories from patients being treated with XELJANZ, explore ways to change the conversation with your healthcare provider, and take a more active role in letting your healthcare provider know what's important to you.
May 8, 2014, could be an exciting opportunity to learn about rheumatoid arthritis and XELJANZ. Register for a live event or an online program now!"
Hmmm.... I thought. I am still thinking.They are promoting it as an educational event which of course will include information on Xeljanz. Do I want to attend? I am not sure. I would be happy to learn more about RA but not sure if I am interested in learning about a new medication.
And do I have moderate to severely active RA? And my methotrexate is working as far as I can tell. But its an interesting marketing tactic.
Yesterday I received an email inviting me to a webinar fun by Pfizer on one of their new medications for RA:
"Exploring Rheumatoid Arthritis – A Live Studio Broadcast Event
Join us on Thursday, May 8, 2014.
If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of adults living with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, Pfizer is hosting the first live event designed to explore ways you can help treat your RA.You will of course learn more about XELJANZ, first in a new class of oral treatment for RA.
Xeljanz is a prescription medicine called a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor. XELJANZ is used to treat adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in whom methotrexate did not work well. It is not known if XELJANZ is safe and effective in people with hepatitis B or C. XELJANZ is not for people with severe liver problems. It is not known if XELJANZ is safe and effective in children.
We’ll also listen to personal RA stories from patients being treated with XELJANZ, explore ways to change the conversation with your healthcare provider, and take a more active role in letting your healthcare provider know what's important to you.
May 8, 2014, could be an exciting opportunity to learn about rheumatoid arthritis and XELJANZ. Register for a live event or an online program now!"
Hmmm.... I thought. I am still thinking.They are promoting it as an educational event which of course will include information on Xeljanz. Do I want to attend? I am not sure. I would be happy to learn more about RA but not sure if I am interested in learning about a new medication.
And do I have moderate to severely active RA? And my methotrexate is working as far as I can tell. But its an interesting marketing tactic.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Outrage against the pink machine
I finally watched Pink Ribbons Inc - a Canadian made documentary about breast cancer as the poster child of cause related marketing. (My apologies to AnneMarie over at Chemobrain Fog for taking so long to get to it but now I will pass it along to others.) My single thought on the film:
- how can they 'use' such a nasty disease to their benefit? The 'they' here are corporations who claim they are doing good but really are just using it are a marketing promotion. Here are a few quotes that stuck with me:
- one woman with stage IV breast cancer said there is 'no integrity' in this pinkification on where the dollars go. Companies make the money but how much really goes to the cure, who oversees the research to make sure they are a group effort in working towards something real instead of just dabbling at it in different parts of the world.
- Nancy Brinker really got me with this one. She said "until there is a cure, there is not enough pink." Oh, please. You just like wearing pink suits with yourdebutante Junior League hair style. We aren't talking about a paint color here. Its a real disease and you can't sugarcoat with some pink and make it cute. By focusing on the color pink you are ignoring the impact of the disease on women's and their families' lives. There is nothing pretty and pink about breast cancer.
I do like the advice that if you have breast cancer you should do something besides worry. Trust me I know this one well. Sitting around and stewing about your health - one ailment or 1000 ailments, does not help you at all. Going for a walk or a run to get in shape will help distract you and might even help your health and if the goal of a pinkified event will help you is fine if it works for you. But you could just send in a check and go for a daily walk with a friend or two and not be part of the pink machine.
My personal goal now is to avoid the pink machine as much as possible in my life.
Find a copy of Pink Ribbons Inc. You can buy it at Amazon now. You might even be able to take it out of your library. Have some friends over and be prepared to be outraged.
OUTRAGE
- how can they 'use' such a nasty disease to their benefit? The 'they' here are corporations who claim they are doing good but really are just using it are a marketing promotion. Here are a few quotes that stuck with me:
- one woman with stage IV breast cancer said there is 'no integrity' in this pinkification on where the dollars go. Companies make the money but how much really goes to the cure, who oversees the research to make sure they are a group effort in working towards something real instead of just dabbling at it in different parts of the world.
- Nancy Brinker really got me with this one. She said "until there is a cure, there is not enough pink." Oh, please. You just like wearing pink suits with your
I do like the advice that if you have breast cancer you should do something besides worry. Trust me I know this one well. Sitting around and stewing about your health - one ailment or 1000 ailments, does not help you at all. Going for a walk or a run to get in shape will help distract you and might even help your health and if the goal of a pinkified event will help you is fine if it works for you. But you could just send in a check and go for a daily walk with a friend or two and not be part of the pink machine.
My personal goal now is to avoid the pink machine as much as possible in my life.
Find a copy of Pink Ribbons Inc. You can buy it at Amazon now. You might even be able to take it out of your library. Have some friends over and be prepared to be outraged.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Ditching the marketers
Allow me to apologize up front - I am a professional marketing person. I make junk mail. I make email which you may or may not want to receive. I write sales pitches talking about features and benefits. I have been known to hire people to make annoying phone calls. I am the kind of person you probably hate. I also work in fundraising and development which means I know how to ask for money as well as spend it.
However, this gives me great skills for getting rid of pesky sales people. First of all in the business world, what department gets to spend money? Marketing. We get to spend money on new logos, new letterhead, advertisements, printing things that no one wants to read, hiring expensive outside consultants, renting mailing lists, and more. So that means that who gets calls from pesky salesmen - marketing. Yes the purchasing department gets this too but marketing is also privileged enough to get these calls.
As a result I have developed some finally honed skills in dealing with these people. I dislike the door to door people - its harder to avoid the door bell than it is to avoid the ringing phone with its little caller ID window. For the Bible carrying door to door visitors, I tell them I do not believe. I just say to them 'I am an atheist' or something helpful and close the door. For the political ones, I belong to a different party than they do and they can't convert me either. I don't care what religion or political affiliation they are, they are intruding on my privacy so go away. If you are delivering chocolates or flowers, feel free to stop by.
For the calls I actually bother to answer, I am polite - at first. As soon as they ask me for any money I give them my guidelines: 'I do not give money over the phone. If you want me to give you money, you need to send me something I can read. I will not tell you an amount I might give after reading your materials because then you will hound me and ask me for the $20 I 'promised' which I never promised.' If they try to argue with me, I hang up. (By the way, they only want that amount up front so they can budget on how much they might receive. Never commit over the phone. Its probably a scam or at the very least a high pressure sales pitch. A legitimate charity will be happy to send you materials.)
There is nothing wrong with standing your ground and saying not interested and even hanging up on the marketing people. In the business world, I would not recommend hanging up with out some sort of polite good bye - even if you cut them off in mid-sentence. They really don't want to waste their time with people who will never give them money in the first place.
About those do not call/do not mail lists, make sure you are signed up. Charitable organizations - which unfortunately includes political campaigns) and businesses where you already have a business relationship (such as a big fat mortgage) are exempt from these but you they will help. Unfortunately there is not a do not stop by and ring my door bell list. A beware of dog sign accompanied by a growling canine is probably the best deterrent. Our cat is pretty useless in this respect. He thinks anyone who comes to the door might feed him.
So last week I got a call from a life insurance salesman from the financial organization where we have some money and our (rather large) mortgage. With my medical history, I haven't really bothered with life insurance on the premise that no one will give me any. But I figured since they called and asked, I would give it a try. So I said 'would you provide life insurance to someone with two cancer diagnoses?' Hell, it never hurts to ask. No harm, no foul in asking. He replied 'how long ago were you diagnosed?' I said 'thirty years and four years'. His reply 'We like people to get to the five year mark so you can call us back next year and we'll see what we can do.' I translate that to there's a snowball chance in hell of them underwriting my life insurance anytime. But I also guarantee he will never call me again.\
However, this gives me great skills for getting rid of pesky sales people. First of all in the business world, what department gets to spend money? Marketing. We get to spend money on new logos, new letterhead, advertisements, printing things that no one wants to read, hiring expensive outside consultants, renting mailing lists, and more. So that means that who gets calls from pesky salesmen - marketing. Yes the purchasing department gets this too but marketing is also privileged enough to get these calls.
As a result I have developed some finally honed skills in dealing with these people. I dislike the door to door people - its harder to avoid the door bell than it is to avoid the ringing phone with its little caller ID window. For the Bible carrying door to door visitors, I tell them I do not believe. I just say to them 'I am an atheist' or something helpful and close the door. For the political ones, I belong to a different party than they do and they can't convert me either. I don't care what religion or political affiliation they are, they are intruding on my privacy so go away. If you are delivering chocolates or flowers, feel free to stop by.
For the calls I actually bother to answer, I am polite - at first. As soon as they ask me for any money I give them my guidelines: 'I do not give money over the phone. If you want me to give you money, you need to send me something I can read. I will not tell you an amount I might give after reading your materials because then you will hound me and ask me for the $20 I 'promised' which I never promised.' If they try to argue with me, I hang up. (By the way, they only want that amount up front so they can budget on how much they might receive. Never commit over the phone. Its probably a scam or at the very least a high pressure sales pitch. A legitimate charity will be happy to send you materials.)
There is nothing wrong with standing your ground and saying not interested and even hanging up on the marketing people. In the business world, I would not recommend hanging up with out some sort of polite good bye - even if you cut them off in mid-sentence. They really don't want to waste their time with people who will never give them money in the first place.
About those do not call/do not mail lists, make sure you are signed up. Charitable organizations - which unfortunately includes political campaigns) and businesses where you already have a business relationship (such as a big fat mortgage) are exempt from these but you they will help. Unfortunately there is not a do not stop by and ring my door bell list. A beware of dog sign accompanied by a growling canine is probably the best deterrent. Our cat is pretty useless in this respect. He thinks anyone who comes to the door might feed him.
So last week I got a call from a life insurance salesman from the financial organization where we have some money and our (rather large) mortgage. With my medical history, I haven't really bothered with life insurance on the premise that no one will give me any. But I figured since they called and asked, I would give it a try. So I said 'would you provide life insurance to someone with two cancer diagnoses?' Hell, it never hurts to ask. No harm, no foul in asking. He replied 'how long ago were you diagnosed?' I said 'thirty years and four years'. His reply 'We like people to get to the five year mark so you can call us back next year and we'll see what we can do.' I translate that to there's a snowball chance in hell of them underwriting my life insurance anytime. But I also guarantee he will never call me again.\
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